U.S gives Sierra Leone President Maada Bio insurmountable mountains to climb

U.S GIVES MAADA BIO INSURMOUNTABLE MOUNTAINS TO CLIMB

By Kabs Kanu

Final Millennium Challenge Corporation ( MCC) Compact  will not be approved by the United States , until substantial democratic progress and implementation of the Tripartite agreements are seen in Sierra Leone , the U.S Embassy in Freetown said today on Sierra Leone’s 63rd Independence Anniversary day.

Negotiations to determine the scope of the U.S $480 million Compact to rebuild the countty’s electricity infrastructur will start in Freetown next week but the U.S has unequivocally stated that the final Compact will only be approved after substantial democratic progress and implementation of the Tripartite recommendations are seen. This looks like an impossible task for the venal and diabolical President Maada Bio, who will never do anything democratic.

Subsequently, these difficult conditions being given Bio , which we know he will never implement, will also spell trouble for our country because if Bio fails the tests the U.S has given him, It will trigger many more sanctions and other adverse economic actions from U.S allies and the international community that will not only cause the downfall of the government, but will leave Sierra Leone mired in very desperate economic quagmire.

SLPP supporters are still downplaying the seriousness of this tripartite committee but after what the U.S Embassy said today, there seems to be a hidden deadly sting to the tail of this tripartite committee and the demands being given Maada Bio.

President Bio seems to have been given the proverbial dangerous native medicine to drink ===if he swallows it, he will be in trouble . If he spits it out, he will be in trouble. If he implements all the recommendations we are expecting from the Tripartite Committee, that will be the end of his power, depending on how seriously the APC treats and tries to enforce everything (Another boycott of governance by the APC, for instance, if Bio dilly dallies, will be detrimental to Bio) . At the same time, Bio cannot afford not implementing the recommendations. The world is watching him. If he refuses to implement the recommendations, he will be an international pariah and the international community will adopt a hands – off policy of his affairs and he will become vulnerable to many dangers in a country where everybody is frustrated with him and if anything happens to Bio, nothing will come out of it by way of international intervention.

So , APC, the ball is in your court . The U.S has tossed you a golden opportunity to help end this Bio dictatorship that Soerra Leoneans are very angry about . The future of Sierra Leone is in your hands, APC. The leaders of the party can warn all they want about not preempting the outcome. It is all in the air now, based on the statement by the U.S Embassy. Democracy has to be restored in Sierra Leone. Generations will praise the APC or blame them forever if they let this wonderful opportunity slip.

So, it is not only the SLPP that is in trouble here. If the APC is perceived by the people not to have done a good job or the Lord forbid, that they sold out to Bio, the APC will find it very difficult to win any more elections in Sierra Leone. The SLPP will capitalize on it and press home the onslaught. There wil also l be a drastic backlash against the APC and many members may quit in frustration –and, in this scenario. do not rule out the emergence of a popular and powerful third force , which will hurt both the SLPP and APC, but the APC more.

Remember the famous Liberian fable about the RAT TRAP, which characterized the Charles Taylor invasion to get Samuel Doe ? Well, this is what America and the International community have set in Freetown. The farmer set the trap for the rat but the cat, always a wise creature, lying down and looking afar, warned the other animals that ” This rat trap is not for Rat alone “.And it turned out to be true.

Because of that one rat trap , all the animals in the town suffered. The trap killed the Chief’s favorite daughter . The hunter was the first to be rid of and for the funeral, 7-day and 40-day ceremonies of the chief’s daughter, the chickens and ducks, the goats and the sheep and the cows were killed to feed the multitudes of mourners . Even the monkeys and the deer suffered because some of the mourners loved bush meat.

The outcome of this tripartite committee will change the political landscape in Sierra Leone, for good or for bad..